To: info@gw.govt.nz
The Wellington Civic Trust (the Trust) is a strong supporter of public transport, because it:
- is consistent with the Trust’s purpose with respect to the civic quality of Wellington
- reduces demand on road space and helps avoid need to expand roading space, thereby avoiding the generation of “induced” traffic
- contributes to CBD quality by bringing people closer together and improving pedestrian connections, and enables the vibrancy of a compact CBD
- has positive environmental effects such as reduced emissions and air pollution
- reduces fuel use and so increases economic resilience as fuel scarcity increases prices.
- provides mobility for non-car users.
We welcome the opportunity to submit on the proposed Plan, using the questions posed on the feedback form.
Introduction
1. The Trust commends the Council for the presentation of the plan – the language is plain and direct and issues for comment have been highlighted to facilitate public involvement. The areas of ‘focus approach’ is particularly useful.
2. We accept the strategy on which the plan is based, as explained in the opening comments from both the Mayor and the Chief Executive. Rates affordability is a key issue. The city has to continue to invest in core infrastructure and if acceptable living standards are to be maintained, so must essential services. A number of service charges are being increased. This is no doubt inevitable because the ratepayer should not have to bear the full burden of unavoidable increased in costs. It would, however, be a shame if service charges forced an increasing number of our citizens to be priced out of services previously within their reach. That would amount to a partial loss of citizenship.
The trust thanks the ministry for the opportunity to comment on the engagement document on the GPS on land transport funding. Our comments follow.
Comments:
- While entitled ‘the GPS on Land Transport funding’, it does not cover KiwiRail’s expenditure on the rail network. It therefore misses any opportunities for looking at the transport network as a whole, and is unlikely to achieve full value for money since this approach cannot optimise the use of all existing resources and infrastructure. For example, Hamilton to Tauranga is proposed as a RoNS while the parallel railway line has received some upgrading and is capable of more. Read more »
The Wellington Civic Trust Awards were held in the Council Chambers on 28 April 2011. These were the lustrous winners:
Category winner — ‘Enhancement or Protection of the City’s Built Environment’
Te Wharewaka, by Architecture+
The runner-up was the Chews Lane Project byAthfield Architects.
Category winner — ‘The City’s Public Spaces’
Te Ahumairangi Hill Lookout, Tinakori Hill
The runner-up was Taranaki Wharf West.
Category winner — ‘Art in the City ~ People’s Choice’
Colin Webster-Watson’s Frenzy, Taputeranga Reserve, Owhiro Bay
To the Extraordinary Council Meeting 20 April 2011
The Civic Trust is not too concerned about the attitude taken by the NZTA in this matter. Central government always leans on its smaller and weaker partner in government. Moreover, NZTA’s bloodline goes back to the Ministry of Works, an organisation with many qualities, but not, unfortunately, any related to engagement with the public. We expect better of that arm of government which is community-based. This issue will be a true test of whether or not our Council can, despite the lure of central government cash, approach this matter determined to act in the best interests of the communities it represents.
The Wellington Civic Trust agrees with the recommendation of officers that the reduced status quo option is the best immediate choice for the continued operation of the Council’s waterfront implementation agency. We believe, however, that this should be an interim decision and that the governance structure of the project should be included in the proposed review of the Framework.
While the Trust agrees with the broad conclusion reached in the review, it is disappointed with its tone. We can well understand why the company was prompted to write so fulsomely in praise of Karen Wallace’s work. The report exaggerates the risks of the in-house option and is too enthusiastic in its support of the CCO model. We believe each model has its strengths and its weaknesses. We heard this morning a lot about the great merits of a focused, arms-length implementation agency. We should remember it was a focused, arms- length agency which gave us the Events Centre.
These images were published in a feature in the Arts & Entertainment section (Tom Cardy) of the Dominion Post on 3rd March 2011, and represent highly visible art works introduced into Wellington City since the last Civic Trust Awards in October 2008.
1. Gabriel Heimler’s The Mover, Museum Hotel, Cable St.
2. Regan Gentry’s Subject to Change, Karo Drive, Te Aro.
3. Peter Trevelyan’s Mimetic Brotherhood, outside Te Papa.
4. Phil Dadson’s Akau Tangi, Cobham Drive.
5. Paul Dibble’s From Under the Harbour, Moore Wilson, Tory St.
6. Colin Webster-Watson’s Frenzy, Tuputeranga Reserve, Owhiro Bay.
Introduction
1. The Wellington Civic Trust welcomes the decision of the Mayoral Forum to review the governance of the Wellington region and to commission the report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The reorganisation of Auckland’s governance will have far reaching implications for other regions in New Zealand. The political tectonic plates have shifted up north and the rest of the country must adjust. Each region has its role to play in national development. Wellington is not only the capital, it also provides a crucial transport bridge between the North and South Islands which means that network capacity needs to take account of national and regional as well as core area demands.
2. The trust believes that the existing regional structure and a continued reliance on a collaborative approach will not allow the Wellington region to optimise its role in the national economy, or best serve the interests of those living in the region.
I so regret being unable to be present at this AGM – my first as Chair of the Wellington Civic Trust.I offer my apologies through Alan Smith, Deputy Chair and Secretary, who will present to you this 2009-2010 Annual Report.
It hardly seems that a year has passed since Seddon Bennington, our previous chairman, spoke to this meeting. Two months later, in July, he and his longtime friend Marcella Jackson tragically died in a storm in the Tararuas. This shocked us enormously then, and saddens us still.
The Civic Trust has no climate scientists on its Board. We have not therefore attempted to evaluate the science, we are persuaded, however, that if the great majority of climate scientists say that global warming is a life-threatening problem, we have not only to listen, but to act.
If 255 members of the US National Academy of Sciences say that “there is compelling comprehensive and consistent objective evidence that humans are changing the climate in ways that threaten our societies and the ecosystems on which we depend” we have to do something about it.